Easy Tiger Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 Thanks for that info wheatGrass .... still waiting out here in the west .... All the best in your continued studies (I'm Ed PhD too) ....
trebuchet Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 (edited) I'm in the southwest neighbourhood of Montreal and FINALLY got my letter after much angst-ridden waiting. CGS! (Category A) Committee 1 - Fine Arts Score 22.4 Just finished my first year of PhD (recommended by the program - previously rejected going in, applying directly to SSHRC) GPA - I don't even know, I guess I should. A average, I only had one B+ ever. Awards/publications - because I'm a studio artist and in fine arts, this might be a bit different... - held OGS and department awards in my masters - received program fellowship at my current school - awarded national Canada Council for the Arts research grant previously, as well as provincial/municipal funding from arts councils - book chapter and other publications from arts publishers (non-referreed) - a couple arts conferences - International touring exhibition and International artist residencies - RA/TA experience plus sessional teaching employment Field - Interdisc with studio art major Holy crap - I'm floored. Edited May 2, 2012 by trebuchet
sugarcoatedsour Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 Thanks for that info wheatGrass .... still waiting out here in the west .... All the best in your continued studies (I'm Ed PhD too) .... Easy Tiger, has your mail already come by today? I'm further west so I'll stop stalking the mailbox if that's the case...
Easy Tiger Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 Not yet sugarcoatedsour ... my mail probably won't come for another 2 or 3 hours ....
sugarcoatedsour Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 Not yet sugarcoatedsour ... my mail probably won't come for another 2 or 3 hours .... Cool! Here's hopin'.... This is a terrible experience. Lolz.
Andsowego Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 Waitlisted, 15.5. Boo. Please don't take this the wrong way, but you were waitlisted with a score of 15.5 in Education (PhD)? How is this possible? My score is significantly higher than that, we were adjudicated by the same committee, and yet I got outright rejected with no mention of a waitlist in my letter. If your letter actually states that you were waitlisted, I think I have grounds to call SSHRC for clarity... Does anyone else think I should call them to discuss this discrepancy?
oxforddphil Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 @Andsowego: Don't forget that applicants only compete against people in the same 'year' of the PhD as them. Since you are (I believe) going into your fourth year, you would have needed a higher score in order to win an award than someone going into their first year. I don't know what year wheatGrass is in, but this could explain the discrepancy.
Andsowego Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 @Andsowego: Don't forget that applicants only compete against people in the same 'year' of the PhD as them. Since you are (I believe) going into your fourth year, you would have needed a higher score in order to win an award than someone going into their first year. I don't know what year wheatGrass is in, but this could explain the discrepancy. Where did you find this info about the same year? It's my understanding that this isn't the case (straight from my supervisor's mouth). sarahjane 1
SCY Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 Any American responses yet? Nothing in Michigan...I'm betting on tomorrow
oxforddphil Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 (edited) I got my info from a friend of mine who has been involved in helping McGill applicants to prepare. She seemed quite certain that there is a fixed quota of awards for each 'year' of the PhD. The upshot from a practical standpoint is that the further along you are the higher the score you need, because the people against whom you're competing will have stronger files and a better proposal. PS I seem to recall reading something similar on this board as well. PPS Of course, I could be wrong. Edited May 2, 2012 by oxforddphil
SCY Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 I got my info from a friend of mine who has been involved in helping McGill applicants to prepare. She seemed quite certain that there is a fixed quota of awards for each 'year' of the PhD. The upshot from a practical standpoint is that the further along you are the higher the score you need, because the people against whom you're competing will have stronger files and a better proposal. PS I seem to recall reading something similar on this board as well. PPS Of course, I could be wrong. The data from past years' competitions also suggest that they group people by year as well. If you look at the proportion of people who win in each year of graduate studies (1st, 2nd year and so on) they are about the same across year in grad school. If all applications were considered together then one would expect a higher percentage of funded applications in higher years (since applications are likely stronger on average in those years).
Andsowego Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 I got my info from a friend of mine who has been involved in helping McGill applicants to prepare. She seemed quite certain that there is a fixed quota of awards for each 'year' of the PhD. The upshot from a practical standpoint is that the further along you are the higher the score you need, because the people against whom you're competing will have stronger files and a better proposal. PS I seem to recall reading something similar on this board as well. PPS Of course, I could be wrong. If this is the case (and you're right), I actually feel better. It's been really difficult for me to see that every single person in this thread (Educ committee or otherwise) who has been waitlisted has received a lower score than what I was given. My heart hurts, especially since this was my last year of eligibility. It's less about the $$ lost at this point, and more about my overall pride. *sigh* I didn't expect to feel this shitty about rejection.
oxforddphil Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 If this is the case (and you're right), I actually feel better. It's been really difficult for me to see that every single person in this thread (Educ committee or otherwise) who has been waitlisted has received a lower score than what I was given. My heart hurts, especially since this was my last year of eligibility. It's less about the $$ lost at this point, and more about my overall pride. *sigh* I didn't expect to feel this shitty about rejection. I hear ya. But these things are always a bit of a crapshoot, and really excellent people get turned down all the time. It's really hard to do (and I haven't even got my results yet since I'm in the UK), but I'm trying not to take the whole thing personally.
placebased Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 (edited) I hear ya. But these things are always a bit of a crapshoot, and really excellent people get turned down all the time. It's really hard to do (and I haven't even got my results yet since I'm in the UK), but I'm trying not to take the whole thing personally. Agreed. My wife and I have had extensive talks about how these grant processes need not shape our identity, validity, and worth as researchers. My supervisor often says: The people working at the leading edge of thought will be the least likely funded! BTW - still waiting for the postie in Victoria this morning. Oh the paradoxical nature of it all! Edited May 2, 2012 by placebased sarahjane 1
wheatGrass Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 @Andsowego: Don't forget that applicants only compete against people in the same 'year' of the PhD as them. Since you are (I believe) going into your fourth year, you would have needed a higher score in order to win an award than someone going into their first year. I don't know what year wheatGrass is in, but this could explain the discrepancy. I'm heading into my first year. It makes sense that the committees take what year you're in into account. If you look at the distribution of awards across year of study it is pretty even.
placebased Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 (edited) Received my successful B Category letter in Victoria, BC for 24 months - serious relief. 22.6/30 I have been working on my PhD for 20 months with a GPA of 4.26/4.33 12 peer-reviewed papers, chapters, Proceedings 2 books and monographs 5 papers in review 17 presentations, exhibitions, and keynotes I have taught and RAd for 5 years in University settings, launched new journals, and founded Canadian Charities A little concerned with the apparent lack of clarity for students getting similar scores. As a instructor of assessment, the lack of transparency around this process - at least in the rubric is very old school.... Good luck to those who are still waiting - and keep fight for those of you who received disappointing letters. I suggest contacting your grad studies department and making your voice and research heard..Obviously they liked your work enough to grade it as an 'A' list. Edited May 2, 2012 by placebased dccp and sarahjane 2
dccp Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 Still no news here in Vancouver. Just checked at the Canada Post distribution hub. Congrats placebased on your good news!
Dakon Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 Placebased, how did you even fit all of those things into the maximum one page Research Contribution? I was only able to fit 18 things in total (and that was a tight fit), but you just mentioned 36.
placebased Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 Placebased, how did you even fit all of those things into the maximum one page Research Contribution? I was only able to fit 18 things in total (and that was a tight fit), but you just mentioned 36. good question...I referenced some of this work in the work cited and I didn't put all of these into the application as a listed research contributions. My research contribution had 20 items....one has to choose wisely in these. I am not sure that these have much bearing on the outcome, but perhaps?
Dakon Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 For a moment I was thinking maybe I misread and it was actually two pages. Maybe the question is in what detail did they pay attention to things such as you sourcing your own work and the that these sourced works were not repeated in your Research Contribution. Who knows! But I too am rather curious about how much the Research Contribution would play a role, since given that yours appears to be rather substantial (even for someone already significantly along the way in their PhD) one would think it would merit more. It would seem that, though they obviously play a role, they maybe are more interested in the proposed research project, or that in your committee there was just extreme levels of competition. sarahjane 1
placebased Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 Without a larger sample size For a moment I was thinking maybe I misread and it was actually two pages. Maybe the question is in what detail did they pay attention to things such as you sourcing your own work and the that these sourced works were not repeated in your Research Contribution. Who knows! But I too am rather curious about how much the Research Contribution would play a role, since given that yours appears to be rather substantial (even for someone already significantly along the way in their PhD) one would think it would merit more. It would seem that, though they obviously play a role, they maybe are more interested in the proposed research project, or that in your committee there was just extreme levels of competition. without a larger sample size - it is hard to know how these publications are treated. From the discussions with professors who have served on these committees they seem to be swayed but not wholly shifted by publications. Yet at the same time the rabid publication obsession seems to be rammed down our throats as our only validation. I have decided to move on from this a bit, for now at least, and am exploring websites and ibooks as valid publication vectors. Lots of cool opportunities with these!
canukulhead Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 I realize applicants are assessed by committee and by year of study, but some may find these statistics interesting anyway (based on scores reported in this forum). Mean score of successful applicants = 21.5 (n = 19) Lowest score of successful applicants = 17.7 (n = 19) Mean score of waitlisted applicants = 16.4 (n = 7) Highest score of waitlisted applicants = 18.5 (n = 7) Conclusion: I am so colossally screwed! This is brutal. I need a hug. Applicant, Status, Score, Subject area Cancomm, CGS, 18.5, Communications bedalia, CGS / Will decline (good!), 21.15, ? Deezkneezm, CGS / downgrade to fellowship, 26.6, History of Christianity CassandraC, Fellowship, 25.8, Sociology electrochoc, CGS, 18.7, Political Science Andsowego, Not successful, ?, ? ducon_lajoie, Not successful, ?, ? soimpossible618, Fellowship, 22.95, English Literature Blurry, Waitlisted, 18.5, Philosophy DMMS18, Waitlisted, 16.7, Psychology Howmuchlonger, Not successful, 16.9, Urban and Region Studies avsilver, CGS, 27.7, MES in Geography ZoSo 4, CGS, 21.7, English Lit Andsowego, Not Successful, ?, ? mimiuchi, CGS / downgrade to fellowship, 20.1, Islamic thought cathaea, Waitlisted, 15.3, English wippen, Waitlisted, 16.2, English joechip, Waitlisted, 16.2, Religion sarahjane, Waitlisted, 16.2, English climbingtree, CGS, 19.9, English zhanghy, CGS, 17.7, Economics Interferenceviolet, CGS, 22.2, Fine arts NeedFunds, Fellowship, 18.1, Psychology dis-grad, Not successful, ?,? ecoptimist, CGS / downgrade to fellowship, ?, Economics lemonbeans, CGS, 21.x, ? Compoe, CGS, 22, Music composition sleepyphd, Offered (?), 19.1, ? ltam, CGS / downgrade to fellowship, 21, Gender/ Ethnic Studies wheatGrass, Waitlisted, 15.5, Education trebuchet, CGS, 22.4, Fine arts placebased, Fellowship, 22.6, Education
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